Evolve: Vampire Stories of the New Undead. Nancy Kilpatrick, ed. Calgary, AB: Edge Science Fiction and Fantasy, 2010. 283 pp., pbk., $16.95. ISBN 978-1-894063-33-3. Subject Headings: Vampires-Fiction. Horror tales, Canadian (English). Fantasy fiction, Canadian (English). Short stories, Canadian (English). Canadian fiction (English)-21st century. Grades 12 and up / Ages 17 and up. Review by Jennifer Draper. *** /4

excerpt:

“But you have killed people, right? How do you feel about that now?”

“That’s an excellent question, Oprah. Sure we’ve had to kill people in the past, simply to survive. Does that make us evil? I don’t think so. It makes us no different from any other nation or ethnic group in the history of the world.” (From “The New Forty” by Rebecca Bradley.)

Shadows fluttered from the corners as Buer bit in just above the fine lines of the wrist and sucked. Only five swallows. No overindulgence before the dinner party, but that was much later. The blonde male, lightly haired and slim, twitched but held still, his blood warm and slightly tart. Buer avoided the bull’s stare and looked around the pen at the other beasts. He liked to keep the cattle clean and ready to drink at any point. (From “An Ember amongst the Fallen” by Colleen Anderson.).

This compilation of 24 re-imagined vampire stories ranges from the truly horrific to the amusing. These stories take the vampire myth and alter the reader’s understanding of what a vampire is and what vampires can do. Some stories are truly disturbing, such as Anderson’s “An Ember amongst the Fallen.” In this story, humans are kept like cattle in pens as food for the vampires. A particularly grisly scene involves a sushi like dinner of raw human.

     Other stories, such as Tanya Huff’s “Quid Pro Quo,” is action-packed and interesting. In this story, the main character, a female vampire, has her human mate kidnapped in a plot by a multi-billionaire who seeks immortality. The result: don’t mess with a female vampire. Kelly Armstrong also contributes her story “Learning curve,” and, like all the other authors, she is Canadian Some stories fall short of the mark, but, overall, they are well-written and interesting. Definitely for the horror fan, not the paranormal romance crowd, even though there is some vampire style sex.

Recommended.

Jennifer Draper is a librarian at the Pickering Public Library in Pickering, ON.

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